


Shot!

by skoliroven



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Cussing, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Self-Harm, not really but Technically yeah, really angsty, this is a shadow the hedgehog fanfic of course it has cussing in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:28:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24906094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skoliroven/pseuds/skoliroven
Summary: The frigid night air stung as it pierced through his spines and chilled him to the bone. Each steady breath he took left the burnt taste of ashes clinging to his mouth, and he desperately wished he had some way to wash away the vile taste of death and destruction. The once proud city was now crumbling under the full force of alien invasion; the streets once filled with busy life were now desolate as gunfire resounded through the night.He really hated the Black Arms. And he can't decide if having Sonic by his side is a good thing or a bad thing.(Inspired by Lethal Highway in ShTH)
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Shot!

Billboard advertisements blurred by in streaks of colorful light, contrasting fiercely with the ghastly sky and stoic skyscrapers. The frigid night air stung as it pierced through his spines and chilled him to the bone. Each steady breath he took left the burnt taste of ashes clinging to his mouth, and he desperately wished he had some way to wash away the vile taste of death and destruction.

The usually busy highways were now desolate, the city having been completely evacuated hours ago. It was a good thing too, as the entire area had become a ruinous war zone. The once proud skyscrapers crumbled as heavy maroon tendrils wormed their way into the concrete exteriors, and the raised highway fared no better as entire lengths of the road were collapsed into the abyss below as they were used as target practice for cosmic explosives.

G.U.N. troops had been deployed to keep the Black Arms' invasion at bay, and while their strategies had succeeded at first and aided in the city's successful evacuation, they quickly found that for what the Black Arms lacked in intelligence and strategic planning, they made up for in numbers. As aliens corpses began lining the street, hulking Warriors literally rained from the sky to replace their fallen brethren. The humans were forced to slowly surrender the city; it was impossible to win against an endless enemy. To make matters worse, the aliens had apparently been implanting eggs into the fissured roads, known only because captured areas would randomly explode with flesh-eating larvae. An unstoppable wave, they would overtake the humans, pick their bones clean, and migrate in search of any warm tissue they could siphon the life force from. Some sections of the highway looked more like a living mass of pulsating flesh than a concrete structure.

Regardless, nothing could deter Shadow and Sonic as they rushed onward, the streets echoing with the harsh hiss of rocket-powered skates and the solid thud of red nylon shoes. They weaved through the lines of troops, dodged the encroaching aliens, and leapt over the masses of larvae. They had a bigger target; there was a Black Arms tank on route to destroy a high security G.U.N. vault. While Shadow couldn't care less for the welfare of G.U.N. property, if the tank was successful the Black Arms would come into possession of a powerful chaos emerald and then much bigger problems than his grievances with G.U.N. would arise.

Shadow glanced down at the illuminated map on his watch; the blinking indicator revealed that they would reach the tank within seconds. By the time Shadow looked back up, the dark tank was hovering just on the horizon. It was an oddity to behold, a squamous stingray-shaped vehicle that hovered just above the pavement. It was travelling slowly, but when the two hedgehogs entered its line of sight it revved up to an impressive speed, likely only possible due to its frictionless method of transport.

The two hedgehogs leaned into the chase, grinning smugly at the idea of a challenge. When they were just close enough to feel the heat of the tank's propulsion jets, Sonic launched himself forward, coiling into a tight ball of razor sharp spikes. The tank lurched and let out a harsh grinding noise as it picked up enough speed to pull just out of the hedgehog's reach. Sonic uncurled, landed back on his feet, and kept running, not hesitating to keep up his momentum. He powered forwards and leapt into another homing attack, but this time the tank was more prepared and it shot forward, easily dodging the attack. Sonic and Shadow might've been the fastest things alive, but the otherworldly vehicle was running on unprecedented technology.

"It's no use Sonic!" Shadow yelled out with an exasperated wave of his hand. The blue hedgehog glanced back and shook his head.

"So what are we gonna do?" Sonic shouted over the thrum of the tank's engines as he slowed into pace alongside Shadow.

"We need a plan. We can't just attack it; it's fast and it's shielded." Shadow pointed to the top of the vehicle, where the shield's shimmering blue aura could just barely be made out against the night sky.

Sonic frowned a bit at this. Spontaneity had always been more his style.

After a few seconds of pondering, Sonic shrugged and threw a shit-eating grin at Shadow. "Guess I'll just have to find its weak point then!"

Sonic once again dashed ahead of Shadow to attack the tank, this time using a spindash to catapult himself off a ramp. The tank swerved to the left and Sonic bounced onto the highway, completely missing the target once again.

Shadow rolled his eyes.

Before Sonic had another chance to try to attack it, the tank sharply veered over the highway and dipped behind a building, out of sight.

The two hedgehogs skidded to a halt, mouths agape, dumbfounded that the tank had deviated from the elevated highway. It was technically a flying tank, so perhaps it shouldn't have been too surprising.

Sonic swiveled his head to give Shadow a hopeful look. "Can you track it Shadow?"

The dark hedgehog looked down at his watch and shook his head. "Rouge has also lost sight of the tank. But maybe..."

A few days ago, when the invasion had just begun, Black Doom had reached out to Shadow telepathically, startling the dark hedgehog into obedience until he realized his biological father's true nature. Since then Shadow ascertained that he had some sort of hive mind mental connection to the Black Arms, meaning that if he concentrated hard enough, he should be able to figure out where the tank went. With a steady breath, he closed his eyes and focused on extending his mental probe outwards, feeling for the creatures residing within the tank.

"There." Shadow took a step forward and pointed towards a sign denoting the nearest exit. "They're taking the freeway."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sonic yelled cheerfully, sprinting forwards and leaving Shadow in the dust.

Before Shadow could race after him, the night was split in half by a thin beam of yellow. Shadow's eyes went wide as he saw it unfold, and he instinctually flinched back and threw his arm up as a weak attempt at shielding himself. The next few moments were ruled by light, thunder, and tremors.

Despite his efforts, his vision went dark and his ears rung with a shrill din. As his senses slowly buzzed back to normal, he realized that he had managed to fall onto the asphalt. He groaned and pushed himself up, wiping blood and gravel from his palms. The stars in his vision made it difficult to see, but he spotted Sonic's unmistakable blue fur among the rubble. The other hedgehog was lying face down only a few meters away, having been much closer to the blast and flung back a good ways.

Shadow shakily pushed himself up and took a weary step towards Sonic. As he did so, his footing was unsure as though his knees were about to buckle. A bit disoriented, he looked down, only to discover the actual problem was that the ground was shifting beneath his feet, long cracks webbing through the pavement. Panic spiked through his veins and he forced himself to move, dashing forward, scooping Sonic into his arms, and vaulting over the highway guardrail.

There was an adjacent highway elevated lower than the first, and Shadow twisted his torso towards it, aiming to land on it. For a second they were weightless, soaring majestically through the air.

And then they crashed. Hard. Sonic flew out of his grasp, and Shadow tumbled across the road, only coming to a stop when his back thunked against the opposite concrete guardrail. He was lucky to have such stiff spines that the ordeal left him with only a few scrapes on his arms. Lifting his head, Shadow managed to look back in time to see the first highway collapse into a pile of dust, disappearing into the void below. The ground was steady here. They were safe.

Shadow let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Closing his eyes, he lowered himself back onto the ground and curled into a comforting position with his knees pulled up to his chest.

Shadow wasn't sure how much time passed, it could've been seconds or years for all he knew, but Sonic was the first to get up. The blue hedgehog was a bit shaken and some ugly looking lacerations marred his side, but that didn't stop him from flashing a genuine smile as he offered his rival a hand up.

"Hey, thanks for the help back there! Need a hand?"

Shadow threw a glare at the other hedgehog, then rolled his eyes and growled. "Don't mention it." He reluctantly accepted Sonic's hand and was pulled to his feet. Shadow brushed the grit off his pelt and looked back at the blue hedgehog, who was staring at him with inquiring eyes. For a moment they just looked at each other, daring the other to speak. Sonic opened his mouth to break the silence but was interrupted when a purple ball of plasma sputtered in between them, close enough to tickle the fur on Shadow's muzzle. They whipped their heads around to discover the culprit. Not far down the road, a group of Black Warriors strode towards them, advancing with their fangs bared and guns aimed, ready to fire.

Shadow took a step forward and ran his hand through his back spines to grab his pistol. He raised it towards the nearest alien, wrapped his finger around the trigger, and -

There was another flash of purple, this time striking just beneath his ribs. He gasped, dropped his weapon, and flinched a few steps back. Eyes wide in fear, he ducked behind a trashed vehicle to tend to it before he could fall prey to the Warriors.

He gently brushed his fingers through his fur to examine the area, but confusingly enough there was no visible wound and he felt no pain. As he watched the purple glow linger and dance under his skin, a certain sensation arose. He couldn't quite pinpoint it...but it quickly became unbearable... It was itching.

He resisted the urge for a few seconds and got to watch in horror as his skin convulsed and pustules bubbled to the top, threatening to burst. The desire to scratch only grew. He growled as he gave in to his primal instincts, raking his claws into the flesh and leaving ragged trenches where blood and pus welled to the surface.

A tranquil bliss radiated through him as he dug his claws deeper and deeper into the soft tissue of his abdomen. As blood and other fluids began to spill onto his fur, his anxieties dissipated; his friends didn't hate him, the Black Arms weren't invading, and he wasn't considered a criminal at large by the majority of the population. For the first time in three days, he could breathe without stress gnawing at his heart and anxieties racing through his mind. This was peaceful.

And then he snapped out of the trance. Pain rushed back into his system and the ache deep in his chest returned. He winced as he looked down and regarded the tattered fleshy threads hanging loosely from his body. He could feel the frigid industrial air creeping into his body, twisting and scraping against his nerves. Blood was streaming out at an alarming rate, saturating his fur with cruor and dripping crimson onto the dark asphalt. He pressed his hand against the gash to slow the bleeding, but there wasn't much he could do with his lack of medical supplies. Shadow ground his teeth together and screwed his eyes shut as the pain radiated through his system.

_Those damn aliens..._

"C'mon, is that all ya got?" A cocky voice somehow slipped past his deafening thoughts and intruded into his headspace. Shadow swiveled his ears back, listening to Sonic laugh as he dodged laserfire and taunted the frustrated Warriors. Despite the blue hedgehog's confidence, he was clearly having a hard time facing them on his own, unable to get close enough for a melee attack when they wielded guns. Damn Sonic's refusal to use firearms.

With a deep breath, Shadow did his best to push his pain to the back of his mind, then licked his lips and trained his mind on the Warriors guarding the street. He gently brushed against their consciousnesses, testing the waters, and when they didn't immediately fight against his presence he took the opportunity to pierce into their mindspace. There was an instant rush of new information as he could see the highway through their eyes, feel the ground through their paws, smell his blood through their noses, and if he focused he could hear Black Doom's psychic commands whispered into the back of their minds. They were crude, not specifically tailored to the situation, but the Warriors still felt excitement at getting a chance to prove themselves to their master. The Warriors had little will of their own; they could not survive without the instruction of a superior and as such their lives were meaningless.

At least that's what Shadow convinced himself of as he went on the offensive. He sharpened his mind's eye into a spear and experimentally jabbed at their connection to Black Doom. The Warriors flinched physically, and Shadow took that as a sign that he was making some sort of progress. After a few minutes of whittling down the connection, it was suddenly broken, leaving Shadow gasping as a fog was lifted. He let his mind blanket over the Warriors', and he found it was quite easy to still their limbs, effectively paralyzing them. Sonic noticed the pause in attacks and took advantage, eradicating them one by one with calculated homing attacks. Their consciousnesses writhed with fear, pain, and panic as serrated blue spines split their roughly scaled hides and dug into the soft vulnerable flesh underneath. They were rugged creatures built to withstand extreme damage, but even they could not endure the full force of the blue hedgehog.

The last mind blinked out of existence and left nothing but a listless void enveloping his mental reach.

Was Shadow really any different from all of them? Just trying his best to make the people he cared about happy? And then destined to die meaninglessly and all of his work, dreams, and goals to be in vain as the memory of him was slowly forgotten by society, simply a speck in the grand scheme of the cosmos?

He pushed that train of thought to the back of his mind. Now was really not the time to dwell on it.

"Hey Shads! Did ya get scared of the aliens?" Sonic laughed, turning the corner to see Shadow hunched over with his back against the dilapidated taxi.

"Hey, you okay?" The blue hedgehog tilted his head quizzically. "Shadow?"

Shadow took a second to respond, straightening himself a bit and tilting his head to gaze at Sonic's expectant expression. He let out a shaky breath. "Guess I'm not at my best today."

Sonic's smiled faltered for a split second as he saw Shadow's bloodied hand clutched tightly to his midsection.

"Ouch, that looks like it hurts." The hedgehog inched closer and knelt down on one knee. He hesitantly reached out his hand, and when Shadow didn't balk, he gently lifted the other's hand to examine the wound below.

Sonic visibly paled at the sight of the shredded flesh. "Uhhh... Wow! Uhm. Okay." Sonic pushed Shadow's hand back into place and withdrew. He anxiously fidgeted with his hands for a moment before saying, "Okay. You just...uh...stay here. I'll be back in a sec." Shadow wearily watched as the hedgehog jumped up and sprinted down the highway.

True to his word, he reappeared a few seconds later with what looked to be a standard-issue G.U.N. jacket.

Sonic squatted down by Shadow's side again, biting his lip nervously. "Here, lemme just..." He leaned forward on his toes to better examine the gash and nodded as if deciding something. He wrung the jacket's torso into a ball and threw the arms around the dark hedgehog's waist, tying it in a firm knot. Despite the effort, the fabric didn't stretch in the right way to apply pressure to the gaping wound and blood oozed out from underneath it. It was a pretty shitty attempt at a bandage.

Shadow raised a quizzical eyebrow. "I thought you'd be better at this, being an adventurer and all," he managed to laugh deliriously. He was feeling lightheaded from the blood loss but at least his body was numbing to the pain.

"Well yeah but I don't exactly run around trying to get hurt!" Sonic gasped, exasperated "I've never gotten anything worse than a scrape... This is way out of my league. Just. Hold this." Sonic pushed Shadow's hand against the cloth, the touch sending a chill running up his arm and through his spine. Shadow focused on a blemish in the asphalt, refusing to look at the fretting hedgehog in front of him. It was wrong. He shouldn't be vulnerable like this and Sonic certainly shouldn't be worrying over him.

Sonic leaned in close, his breath softly whispering across black fur as he fiddled with the jacket arms. When he shifted and warm breath tickled the back of Shadow's neck, a distant memory invaded his thoughts like an unwanted visitor.

He was on the Ark, staring out the polished bay windows at the stars. From this vantage point the universe seemed so vast and impressive, stars whirling around in their solar systems. Maria was standing behind him, her thin hands messing with something around his neck. She leaned forward, breath ghosting over his fur, as she clicked together a tiny clasp.

"There!" she exclaimed, taking a step back to admire her work. Her face was alit with joy as she passed Shadow a handheld mirror. "Do you like it?"

In his silvery reflection, Shadow could see an item hanging from his neck.

"What is it?" Shadow gently pinched the centerpiece, a glittery yellow star that shimmered as Shadow tilted it. On either side blue and black plastic spheres were strung in alternating patterns along a soft twine thread.

"It's a friendship necklace! Look, I made one for me too." She proudly pointed to a matching necklace hanging around her neck. "It's a promise that we'll be best friends forever!"

"Forever?" Shadow angled the mirror to admire it better. He turned to Maria with a warm, albeit toothy, smile. "I love it."

Shadow shook his head, dissipating the memory. The road and debris ahead of him wavered and swirled together as his eyesight started to fail. And maybe the tears welling up under his eyelids weren't helping either.

"Look, Sonic, if I don't make it..." All he could think about was Maria, how he was failing her. "I need you to keep Maria's promise...to protect the people of the earth..."

_You can't let her be forgotten._

His eyelids drooped and he was so, so tired...

He made it to Earth, without her. Would she have been happy for him? Would she have thought her life was wasted on him? He was so useless...

Sonic snapped his fingers, demanding the dark hedgehog's attention. "Hey, look at me."

Shadow's eyes split open just a crack and exhausted red eyes met resolute green.

"Don't talk like that, okay? You're going to be okay. I promise." Sonic bit his lip and scooped the hedgehog up in his arms. Shadow weakly clung to the hedgehog's chest, burying his face into soft blue fur as tears uncontrollably streaked down his face. He couldn't remember the last time someone had let him get so close, someone had hugged him, someone had cared for him.

He let out a steadying breath, sighing at the affection he was allowed.

He was so warm...

"I've got you Shads."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, I wrote the first draft of this when I was in a bad place mentally which is why it's so unapologetically edgy lmao.  
> I'm feeling much better now but I find angst and gore really fun to read so I figured I'd finish it up and post it. I'm really proud of it, 3k+ words is a new milestone for me!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and have a nice day/night! :)


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